1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and arrangement for arranging an information service to determine nutrition and/or medication. More specifically, the invention relates to the formation of information related to the suitability of nutrients and/or medical substances for different parties and to the transmission of information between different parties and systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past decades, the average life expectancy of human beings has grown considerably because of the advanced medical methods of treatment. At the same time, new diseases and illnesses have come out, such as different kinds of allergies, especially to foodstuffs. In addition, obesity has become common especially in developed countries, in which the daily motion of humans has continuously decreased, for example, due to work performed by humans becoming lighter and due to automation. At the same time, humans' eating habits have changed, for example, as so-called fast-food restaurants have become more common. Although specific special foodstuffs and health foods are now in good supply, nevertheless, the major part of humans eats in an unhealthy or unsuitable way, for example, in relation to the energy consumption, illness or latent illness, and they do not think about the nutrients contained in the nutrition they consume or their effects on their health. The significance of nutrients contained in the nutrition frequently consumed, for example, in the generation and progress of illnesses is not even realised, and staying healthy is considered obvious.
However, the consumed nutrition plays an important role in the generation and progress of almost all illnesses. Especially for persons following a special diet, such as weight-watchers, allergic persons, diabetics, and persons suffering from other illnesses, sportsmen and persons otherwise taking care of their health, the additives and nutrients contained in the nutrition and medicaments, and their amounts and/or proportions are especially important for the optimal result, for staying healthy and/or for preventing the worsening of an illness. However, it has to be noted that also healthy persons should watch the quality, amounts and proportions of nutrients contained in the nutrition they consume in order to stay healthy, fit for work and vital.
However, monitoring the nutrients contained in the consumed nutrition is often considered difficult or laborious, and it is only thought to be relevant mostly for persons following a special diet for one reason or another. In some cases, it may also be difficult for people to monitor the nutrient contents in the consumed food and/or drink or other substances contained in foods, which may, for example, cause illnesses or make allergies worse. For example, people may have difficulties in remembering or generally in knowing all nutrients harmful for them in the foodstuffs, in which case, for example when shopping, it may be difficult to know the suitability of a certain product. Especially, if one thinks of the overall effect of nutrients acquired in one day or even one week, it is almost impossible to find out the suitability, goodness and/or effect of a certain foodstuff in relation to the overall effect of nutrients obtained in one day or one week.
Solutions for informing the user of nutrients contained in the nutrition are previously known, for example, from the publications U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,024,281 and 6,038,546. In the solution of the publication U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,281, personal nutrient information is formed to the user with the help of information fed by the user and identifying the food product and with the help of the user's personal data, using a special nutrient information system. Again, in the solution of the publication U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,546, the portions offered by a restaurant are prepared of one or several standardised food articles or components according to the meal order of the customer, in which case the meal will comprise a standardised or modified amount of food components, and the list of nutrients in the portion can be delivered to the customer.
Different computer programs and data terminal equipment are further known for monitoring the supply of nutrients of a person, for example, during dieting or weight watching. For example, the publication U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,564 discloses a solution, in which the nutrition consumption of a consumer can be monitored and information concerning nutrition consumption can be recorded. The publication U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,520 again discloses a solution for an interactive, computerised measuring apparatus of nutrition, which can be used for measuring the food, nutrients and other food components consumed by a person.
However, arrangements according to the known solutions contain some drawbacks. The solutions are typically intended mainly for monitoring certain nutrients in the foodstuffs, and they have been realised mainly by directly comparing, for example, the nutrients contained in a certain food or component with information fed by the user, such as identifier information of substances causing allergy, in which case, if the mentioned food or component contains a nutrient unsuitable for the particular user, the system according to the solution informs the user of this. However, the arrangements according to the solutions do not take into account, for example, the user's genetic genotype and the special requirements caused by this to the nutrient contents, additives, nutrients and/or their proportions in the user's diet.
Further, the systems according to known solutions are clumsy, due to the inflexibility of their user interfaces. The systems of the known solutions are typically arranged to be used, for example, in connection of special nutrition information systems in a shop, in which the arrangement comprises information on the nutrition content of the products that are sold in the shop in question. In a second known solution, the user can search information on nutrients using his home computer, for example, from a database to be supplied on a CD ROM disc. However, the user interfaces of the known solutions restrict the user's moving, in which case situations may often occur in which it is not possible to unambiguously check the nutrients in a certain foodstuff and/or the suitability of these nutrients for the so-called user. In addition, in the arrangements of the known solutions, it is difficult to control or keep up-to-date the amounts and proportions of all nutrients consumed by the user, due to the place-bound arrangements according to the known solutions.
In the state-of-the-art solutions, it is further difficult for the medical personnel treating the user to monitor the supply of nutrients and/or medicaments consumed by the user. In addition, the state-of-the-art solutions have not presented an effectively working solution, in which doctors, nurses or the user would be offered a possibility to easily change, for example, the list of substances harmful for the user in the nutrition information system. The problem of the state-of-the-art solutions is that the arrangements are rigid and inflexible, for example, in a situation, in which the user suddenly gets allergy, and the database of foods suitable or unsuitable for the user should be updated fast.